News from Weather Undeground:

Dennis has come ashore on the south coast of Cuba, and it took one of the worst possible landfall trajectories--a 70-mile long track scraping the coast with its right eyewall. The right eyewall contains the hurricane's strongest winds and highest storm surge, and normally only a 5 to 10 mile section of coast suffers it. Cuba just had 70 miles of coast with some of its prime tourist areas suffer a storm surge of at least 13 feet, and probably 20 feet or higher in many places. Add to this the hurricane's sustained winds of 145 - 150 mph, and the result will be a multi-billion dollar destruction of a key part of the island's economy. Dennis has also made a direct hit on Cienfuegos, a city of 200,000, and is now aiming at the Caribbean's largest city, Havana. The destruction occurring in Cuba from this storm must be truly staggering.

Today will be the worst day in Cuba's modern history. Dennis is a worst-case hurricane following a worst-case path for the island. The storm is already punishing Cuba as it moves parallel to the island, subjecting much of the island to hurricane force winds and rainfall totals of 10 - 15 inches, and destroying much of the rich sugar cane fields and other crops. The situation will get much worse tonight when the storm makes landfall, pushing a storm surge of 20 feet or higher onto a long section of the coast. Dennis will pass near Havana, the most heavily populated part of the island. Although loss of life will be low thanks to Cuba's excellent civil defense system, the destruction of buildings will probably be the worst in Cuba's history

Will update as we get more updates.

5:34pm:

18 dead in Haiti

Tourists evacuated as hurricane hits Guantanamo Bay

From National Weather Service:

REPORTS FROM THE CUBAN METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE AND CIVIL DEFENSE THROUGH HAM RADIO OPERATORS INDICATE A WIND GUST TO 149 MPH OCCURRED AT CIENFUEGOS CUBA AROUND 130 PM EDT. MORE THAN 85 PERCENT
OF THE POWERLINES WERE DOWN AND EXTENSIVE DAMAGE HAS OCCURRED TO
THE COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE.

Blogger 26th parallel has links and updates

Satellite view of storm, 5:31 pm via Weather Channel.

You can see a loop of the storm in action here (java).

7:00pm

At least ten killed in Cuba

More from Cuba:

Powerful Hurricane Dennis struck Cuba Friday in Cuba, entering through the bay of the central province of Cienfuegos, 250 kilometres east of Havana, officials said.

The hurricane's eye reached Cuba early Friday afternoon and maximum sustained winds slowed slightly as it moved over island.

The storm's raging winds and intense rains had already caused power outages in most of Cuba as well as heavy flooding, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, the Cienfuegos office of Civil Defence said.

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8:30pm

Reuters:

Hurricane Dennis roared through the Caribbean on Friday, leaving 10 dead in Cuba and 22 in Haiti before aiming for Havana on a course toward the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, where oil rigs and vulnerable coastal areas were evacuated. The storm weakened slightly as it crossed Cuba but the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Cuban meteorologists had reported a 149-mph (240 kph) gust that caused extensive damage in the city of Cienfuegos.

Updated public advisory